Pro tips for racing in heavy crosswinds, how cyclists should deal with “adaptive muscle shortening,” using your commute to get faster and more is all covered in Episode 243 of The Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast.

One idea for seated sprints in ERG mode, based on some discussion earlier this morning.

Consider shifting up to harder gears. Something like 2-3 in the rear about 5-10 seconds early before the sprint.

Hold the same power initially, which will make you decrease your cadence a bit.

Right before the sprint (about 2 seconds to go is when TR sends the resistance change), HAMMER for the sprint and get your cadence up to your “sprint” rpm’s. This should “over-power” the trainer and get your watts ramped up quickly.

Upon completing the sprint, let the flywheel spin down 5 or more seconds and let your cadence drop to what you had right before you sprinted.

Then undo the shifts (2-3, or whatever you did) to return to your normal ERG gearing.

It can help you bridge the gap by effectively getting the resistance unit set harder via the cadence drop. I have used mild forms of both of these tricks on all my trainers.

Some thoughts on skiing for @chad , you can wear a watch that you just need to start when you leave the lodge and stop when you finish to track the data. No need to ever look at it (unless you are lost and need to know altitude!) The Garmin Fenix 5 onwards (I think), the 935 and the 945 all have a ski mode.

I’ve also used an Apple Watch series 5 to track a full days touring which also worked fine (although the app Ski Tracks didn’t parse my HR [now supposedly fixed])

even if I wore it facing inward, when I’d cock my wrist it’d still hit the start/stop button

You need screen lock…

System Settings

Hold , and select Settings > System.

Auto Lock

Allows you to lock the keys automatically to prevent accidental key presses. Use the During Activity option to lock the keys during a timed activity. Use the Not During Activity option to lock the keys when you are not recording a timed activity.

Manual Lock

Hold down the Light button, which will push you into the options and you’ll find the option to lock the keys. When you need to unlock , simply hold down any button and you can start skipping through those screens again

So is Jonathon a Cat 3 road racer? Not being US based I don’t really know who all the grades work but I’m guessing he wouldn’t have been able to do all three races that were talked about if he was graded higher (wasn’t one of them Cat 3 only?). Just curious more than anything.